ONM: Message Received
by Random O' Panda
Summary: What if, instead of running away, Weiss chose to face her arranged date with her head held high? A spin-off of "One New Message".
1. Girl meets Boy

4:30 P.M. rolled around and Weiss was giving herself one last look over. The outfit that she and Yang had settled on was a white one-piece dress that combined a jacket with a skirt. The trim and decorative buttons were black, and she was wearing white heels that went up to her knees. Yang had affectionately referred to it as her "Snowpea" outfit, but she failed to see the significance of naming a piece of clothing like so. Nodding in approval at her own makeup and overall appearance, she made her way to the front where Klein awaited with the car.

Weiss realized her nerves had returned once more when she caught her heel tapping the bottom of the car at a rather rapid pace. Klein noticed the noise, but refrained from commenting so as to let her keep what composure she had left.

They arrived five minutes ahead of the scheduled meeting time and Weiss got out of the car at the far end of the parking lot, not wanting the expensive car to be the first impression they got from her. Straightening out her skirt, she held her own single white rose in front of her, it being the proof of their identity upon breathed in deep, let it out, and walked slowly towards the restaurant. As she approached she initially failed to see anybody outside, but as she got close she could spy a head of blonde hair over the top of a car. She used said car as cover and got a good look at the boy sitting on a bench.

Her breath caught.

 _'Jaune…?'_

It was none other than Jaune Arc, wearing a sapphire-blue button-down shirt and black pants. He had his hair styled in a part and was bouncing one of his legs up-and-down in apparent nervousness.

And he was holding a single white rose in his hands.

Weiss froze where she stood. Out of all the people in Beacon, he was the only one she'd _never_ expected to see waiting for her. Memories of his failed attempts at flirting with her resurfaced, and she found herself at a loss; how was she supposed to react to this?

That was decided for her when Jaune's eyes, roaming over the parking lot, happened to meet hers. His leg shaking stopped as he raised a hand in a simple greeting, and she returned the gesture automatically due to her ingrained etiquette. So, pretending she didn't know he was there was off the table. Maybe she could hide the rose she was holding in her jacket? Or-

 _"-Remember: he's a mystery, but_ not _a stranger."_

Yang's words called out to her, bringing that train of thought to a grinding halt. Hadn't she made a promise that day? An oath to treat Crescent with warmth, no matter who it turned out to be? How quickly she had forgotten that promise! Shaking her head, she clasped her hands behind her back as she regained her composure. She was Weiss Schnee; but to the boy on the bench, she was here as Crystal.

And she could not, would not, forget the way he had treated her over the months of anonymous communication. No matter their strange history together, he deserved that much at the very least. With that settled in her mind she kept her hands behind her back as she completed her journey, speaking to Jaune as she got within a few paces of him. "Good evening, Jaune. How are you today?"

He smiled, the same trademark goofy grin he showed around Beacon. "I'm doing pretty good. I think?" He did, in fact, phrase that as a question. "Anyways, how are you, Weiss?"

"I'm doing quite well, thank you. Are you perhaps expecting someone?"

Jaune glanced at the white rose he was holding. "Yeah, actually; I am. I'm a little nervous about it, if I'm being honest, because I want it to go well."

He shook his head. "Sorry, not trying to unload my nerves on you. I'm sure you don't wanna hear about this."

She chuckled softly. "Truthfully, Jaune? I'm very interested in how you are, because-"

The white rose appeared from behind her back, making Jaune's eyes widen in shock. "-I'm here to meet someone, as well. Perhaps you know who this person is?"

His mouth opened and shut several times, clearly trying and failing to articulate a sentence. It was quite comical, really, but Weiss decided to throw him a metaphorical bone and break the last bit of ice. "Hello, Crescent."

That made him blink, but a brief second later he gathered his wits and smiled, much more softly this time. "Hey, Crystal. Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise." She gestured to the restaurant door. "Shall we go inside?"

"Of course."

He rose from the bench and opened the door for her, which she accepted with a nod as they began their much anticipated date. The hostess raised an eyebrow as she and Jaune walked in together, but didn't make a single comment as she showed them to their table: a nice, secluded seat that was adorned with only a small, lit candle. "Your waiter will be with you both in just a moment."

"Thank you." The two of them sat in silence for a moment as they had dozens of questions and no place to begin. Jaune eventually decided to open with, "So, can I ask why you chose the name Crystal?"

"A member of my estate, Klein, once described my eyes as beautiful, crystalline orbs." Said orbs twinkled in fond recollection. "I decided that I quite liked that, so it felt appropriate. How about you? Did Crescent come from your last name?"

"Yep, a good ol' fashioned Arc. Kinda lame, I know, but all of my favorites were taken."

"Oh? And what name did you want?"

"Music Man, but it got swiped by Russell." It was peculiar to both of them, as anyone would expect this meeting to be as awkward as possible given what had transpired in Jaune's attempts to woo her just a year prior. But, in the back of their minds, they weren't meeting as distant acquaintances; instead, they were two great friends who just so happened to be connecting in person now.

So, they talked-

"Cardin gave up football to work here? I'm surprised."

"Me, too. But one day, he just walked up to me while I was the host and said, 'Jaune, I will do anything if you help me get a job here.' Apparently, he wants to run his own business one day."

-and talked-

"Do you really hate the piano?"

"I don't hate it, per sé, I just enjoy singing considerably more. It's why I'm in Chorus."

"In that case, could I… maybe hear you play one day?"

She smiled. "Only if you'll sing with me."

-and talked-

"Y-You can't expect me to believe they did that."

"They really did, Weiss! And when I went to the teacher's lounge and told Ms. Fall that I would be dropping Chorus, Ms. Autumn actually _jumped_ out of her chair, shoved her finger in her nose, and shouted 'HAH!' Nora told me once that they would do anything to have me in their classes; I thought it was a joke, but Ms. Fall was about to commit a murder right in front of me."

"...These are the people we're supposed to look up to, Jaune."

"I know, right? Oh, our food's coming."

-and talked.

"So, Yang knew we were meeting each other and helped you pick out an outfit?"

"Indeed she did. As much as I appreciate her assistance, I feel quite peeved that she was aware of what was happening and told neither of us."

Jaune gave a small 'hm' of agreement. "I kinda see what you mean. It almost makes you want to get her back, right?"

"Precisely!" Weiss paused long enough to take a bite of her lasagna, savoring every piece of it before swallowing. Vermilion had to be commended for her skills. "Actually, I may have an idea for a prank of sorts."

"Ooh, I'm all ears." Weiss relayed her idea, making Jaune grin in sheer, unadulterated glee. "Oh, you're evil, Miss Schnee."

She preened from the praise. "Tsk tsk, Mr. Arc-Schnee-to-be! If this plan is going to work, you have to really sell it."

"Right, sorry. I'll make sure my sisters play along, too."

For hours they chatted, over dinner and dessert, even as the crowd around them dwindled down to next-to-no one. It was comfortable, warm.

Wonderful.

"Jaune." Weiss's serious tone got his attention as they finally made to leave the table. "I have something I've always wanted to say."

Jaune stopped in the process of pushing his chair in, but quickly nodded. "I'm listening, because I have something to say, too."

They were on the same page, then, but Crystal still felt it necessary to vocalize it. She bowed her head just a little and said, "Jaune, thank you for being there for me. If you hadn't been available to talk me through my parents issues, I… I'm not sure what I would've done."

Crescent smiled and lowered his own head in return. "Weiss, you returned that help right back to me. It's been hard acting as both big brother and dad for my sisters, and your support helped me out so much. From the tutoring, to the encouragement, to… just, everything. Thank you."

They met each other's eyes and, deciding to switch to actions, closed in and hugged each other. It was brief, as even Jaune was aware of the fact that they were still in public, but that mattered little as they shared their hearts. With a wave goodbye to Vermilion, who was not-so-subtly watching them, they departed the restaurant and Jaune drove her home. All the while they continued talking about many things, big and small alike, just filling up the ride with as much warmth as they could.

Before too long, they arrived at the pearly gates of the Schnee estate. Jaune let out a whistle as they opened and revealed a meticulously kept entrance, with perfectly space bushes lining the driveway. Pulling up as close to the front door as he could, Jaune parked the truck and walked around to let Weiss out. "Your hand, madam."

She rolled her eyes, yet played along anyways as he helped her down. "My, how gentlemanly of you."

"It is always an honor." A heartbeat passed before they both devolved into laughter, neither of them caring that Klein had come to walk her in. The companionship between the two felt as true as anything ever had, and that was all that mattered.

Just as Weiss said farewell and began to walk up the steps, Jaune remembered something and called out, "Weiss, I forgot to ask you something."

She and Klein both stopped, the former stopping to say, "Yes, Jaune?"

Feeling nervous for the first time since he'd sat on the bench, Jaune swallowed his spit and asked, "If you don't have a date to the dance already, could I convince you to go with me?"

Weiss laughed at his struggle, though not out of cruelty. Wasn't the answer obvious? "Of course I'll go with you, Jaune. We'll talk about it later to plan it out."

"Cool- I mean, awesome! Great." That goofy grin was infectious. "See you later, Crystal."

"Until next time, Crescent."

X

 **As you can see, this was just a fluffy what-if that I felt inclined to write in honor of Valentine's day. It's a shame she didn't do this in the real One New Message, eh?**

 **I hope you enjoyed this little aside of mine. If you did, then maybe you can look forward to the next one I'm writing?** **I'll spoil the title for you, but nothing else!**

 **"ONM: Call waiting."**

 **Until next time!**


	2. Gotcha!

Today, like many Sundays, Yang found herself jogging to Jaune's house across the bridge. Her mind was churning with countless puns, many of them centered Weiss's name, and she was not afraid to use each one for her amusement. Rounding the corner to his abode, she heard him singing loud and clear all the way down the street.

Unusually, Jaune did not have his guitar or a crowd of his sisters around him; instead, he was measuring the space above the front door, using a pencil to mark some spots on the paneling. Deciding that now was as good a time as any to intrude, she shouted to be heard above his cheerful singing. "Well, hello there, Mister Bounce-in-his-step! Did something good happen!"

"Yang!" Jaune dropped what he was holding as he spun towards her. "I'll say it has! Thank you!"

"For wh-" She was interrupted by Jaune suddenly bringing her into an almost bone-crushing hug. "Jaune?!"

"Weiss told me everything! About how your pep talk helped her follow through with meeting me, the help you gave her even just to get ready- Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Yang started getting dizzy as Jaune began to swing her around in joy. Realizing she was looking sick, he set her down but remained hugging her. "You've helped turn me into the happiest guy on the planet!"

Once she got her bearings back, she managed to reply, "I mean, I'm glad I could help and all that, but I don't think I did anything _that_ special."

"Huh?" Jaune finally pulled away, tilting his head curiously. "Hasn't Weiss told you already?"

"About what?"

"It's done~!" Olive burst of the house, nearly breaking into song as she announced her presence. She was carrying some type of white banner in her hands, though it was folded so that Yang couldn't see what was written on it. "Oh! Hey there, Yang! Glad you could make it to the announcement!"

"Announcement for what?!"

Her question went ignored as Jaune went back to the house and got on a step stool. "Nice job getting it done so quickly, Olive."

"Well, what did you expect?" The Arc girl preened as she passed Jaune some tape. "You ready to put it up?"

"Yep, just set the corners where I marked."

In unison, they hoisted the banner up and taped the bottom corners to the wall. When they managed to lift up the top edge to reveal the contained message, Yang felt herself lose a few scraps of sanity. On the far left was a golden, crescent moon, and on the far right was an aqua colored snowflake. The letters between them?

"Newly Engaged!"

"What." Her jaw dropped as she read the announcement banner. "Jaune, you-"

"Yep! You're looking at the future Mister Arc-Schnee!" He seemed almost giddy as he hopped down to admire his sister's handiwork. "I thought about Weiss and I having the name Schnee-Arc instead, but she was worried about people shortening it to 'Schnarc' whenever they talked about us. My snowflake is very persuasive."

"Jau- Bu- You can't just suddenly get engaged!" It made no freaking sense! "Jaune, you proposed to her?!"

"We proposed to each other, actually. We were all ready to get married last night, but then we remembered that we needed to invite our families. They'd never let us live it down if we eloped."

"Darn right!" Olive gently jabbed his chest with her pointer finger. "I would've skinned you myself, and then let Mom go to town on you!"

"Easy there, I believe you Sis."

"Jaune!" Yang had to yell just to get them to look at her again. "You're in _high school._ You can't get married!"

Another head tilt. "Why not?"

"For a hundred reasons! You're too young to understand how important something like that is-"

"I understand very well, thank you."

"-I don't think it's even legal-"

"As long as you have parental consent forms it's fine."

"-And you just got together with her last night! Don't you think that's a little sudden?!"

Jaune looked over at Olive, who simply shrugged in response. "Not really?" He answered. "I mean, I love her and she loves me. Isn't that enough?"

"What do you mean-" Something clicked in Yang's mind, and she felt her breath return to her as she had her realization. "Oh, I get it! This is a prank! Wow, okay, you had me going pretty good there."

Jaune's face scrunched up in confusion. "Why would I ever joke about this? Oh, that reminds me, you should call Weiss. She has something very important to ask you."

"Jaune, you can drop it, I figured it out."

"Again, not a joke, Yang. Do you need to borrow my phone?"

"Why would I need to borrow your phone? Fine, fine, I'll play along and call her." Shaking her head, Yang swiftly dialed the Ice Queen's number and waited. After two rings, she heard the line pick up. "Hey, Weiss, Jaune said you needed to talk to me?"

" _Perfect timing, Yang, I was just about to call you!"_ Why did she sound so chipper? _"So, first of all, thank you for your help. Last night was a resounding success."_

Yang rolled her eyes. "Glad to be of service."

" _I have a very important question for you now. Yang, will you be my Maid of Honor?"_

"Hah, so you're in on the prank."

" _Prank?"_

"I sussed it out, so you can let it go now."

" _Yang Xiao Long, I would never joke about something like getting married! The Schnee name is important, and something I would never sully with a- a prank!"_

"You're trying to tell me that you really got engaged last night?"

" _Of course I did! I've spent this morning getting some of the forms together. Some of them will have to wait until later this week, on account of the government offices being closed on Sundays, but I'll be certain not to procrastinate."_

"Weiss-" Yang's free hand grabbed her face and slid as she grunted in frustration. "This is stupid. The Weiss I know would never rush into something like this."

" _Naturally. Quite a lot of thought and discussion went into this, and ultimately Jaune and I were on the same page."_

"This is- Gods, are you serious?! You're actually engaged to Jaune?"

" _Is that not what I've been saying? Yes, we're engaged, and I'd like for you to be my Maid of Honor!"_

"Weiss! No, this can't be happening. This is crazy, and- Jaune, why are you taking pictures of me?"

"It's video." Jaune cheekily grinned from behind his phone. "Just recording the moment we got you, that's all."

" _Make sure Jaune sends me that video later, Yang. Hahaha!"_

"Oh, screw all of you!" Olive, Jaune, and Weiss began cracking up, and Yang felt her cheeks burn red with anger and embarrassment. How dare they do this to her!

Still, at least their date went well. Yang punched Jaune once in the arm as payback for the prank, but she was truly happy that things had gone better than expected. Somehow, she just knew they'd be alright.

-X-

The rain hammered down on the Arc family home with the force of a hurricane, and Jaune was forced to speak louder to be heard. "I'm getting ready to head to work. Are you all gonna be good?"

"Yeeees, we just need the dryer to finish." Olive rolled her eyes as she sassed him, unwrapping the first towel she'd used to dry her hair. She was stuck standing in the laundry room with Jade and Lavender while the machine finished its job. "Get going, okay?"

"Fine, I'll see you all-"

 _Ding dong!_

Jaune glanced down the hall. "Who'd come to our house in this weather?"

Lavender shrugged. "No clue. Will you answer it? I really don't wanna show my tank top to a stranger."

"Sure thing." Grabbing his work apron of the hook, he quickly walked to the front door and opened it up. What he expected was some desperate door-to-door salesman.

What he did not expect was for Weiss to be standing under an umbrella held by Klein, carrying a rolling suitcase as she shook some water off of her feet. And he definitely didn't expect for her to look _completely_ dejected, as if she'd been run through an emotional washing machine. "Weiss? What's wrong?"

"I-" Her words faltered for a moment. "I didn't have anywhere else to go…"

That was all he needed to hear. Jaune turned his head and called to his family, "Everyone, execute Order Gamma! We have two people over!"

Plum dashed from the living room into the dining room, and chaos could be heard as everyone scrambled thanks his sudden command. He ignored all of it, inviting the new arrivals to put their shoes in the cubby and come inside. Weiss sat down on the sofa while Klein made to assist the Arc clean-up crew of his own volition. Jaune parked himself next to her and gently grabbed her shoulder. "You aren't hurt anywhere, are you?"

"No, just- torn up inside." She leaned back on the cushion, staring into the ceiling. "My father backstabbed me. I'm sorry for coming without notice, but… I had to leave the house for my own sanity. There was no staying there today."

"I see." He took a deep breath as he contemplated the rest of his day. "If you need to talk to me, I can call my Sis and tell her I'll be late to work."

Weiss shook her head slowly. "I would hate to cut into your work hours. I'll be fine until you return, and it will give me some time to gather my thoughts."

"If you say so." Jaune removed his hand from her shoulder, but he had one more thing to say. "Weiss, just so you know, our home can be your home for as long as you need it to be. You're important to me."

A ghost of a smile crossed her face as she turned her head to look at him. "Thank you, Jaune. Truly. I'm sorry to be such a burden."

He kneeled down and spread his arms out. After a moment, Weiss wordlessly sat up and accepted his hug. "You could never be a burden. You're my Crystal."

"T-thank-" Her face became buried in his chest as she nuzzled closer. Jaune didn't mind the wetness of her tears, not if it meant helping her in any way he could. They stayed like that for several minutes, ignoring the many onlookers that had completed their tasks.

Before long, Klein decided to break away to help the youngest Arc with her Macaroni and Cheese meal. He had a variation that used chorizo, and he believed that the Arc family would like it immensely. No one present commented on the private moment they witnessed, at least not that night.

That scene belonged solely to the two involved. It needed no audience.

-X-

 **FF Net seems to not have informed most of my followers that I recently updated One New Message. If you haven't read chapter 21 of ONM, I strongly encourage you to do so.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this second peek into an alternate timeline! Please consider leaving a review, and have a nice day.**


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